On November 17th, Australian psych-rock band POND released the music video for the song “Take Me Avalon I’m Young” off of their latest album, 9. The music video follows POND frontman Nick Allbrook around “the picturesque seaside town of Hastings in England,” doing all sorts of athletic activities. In addition to the basketball, fencing, and yoga mentioned in the title of this article, the music video sees Allbrook running, swimming, and shooting.
Of the music video, Allbrook has said, “This was, no joke, the most fun video I’ve ever been a part of. I spent two days rushing around Hastings with my dear friend Bunny [Kinney] and the lovely George, Joe and James Beatty, running, swimming, shooting, fencing and playing terrible basketball. It was a dream come true. The freezing sunrise yoga was magical in retrospect, even if I was a brat at the time (sorry Bunny). A perfect seaside weekend; I got to play, and Bunny got to create an ode to his favorite sport, the modern pentathlon. Massive thanks to Lewis and Steph for their patience and kindness as my instructors.”
POND has been around for quite some time, and they’ve released some incredible material. Their last three albums (The Weather, Tasmania, and 9) have all been fantastic. Songs like “Don’t Look At The Sun (Or You’ll Go Blind)” from their earlier albums are absolutely phenomenal, and “Take Me Avalon I’m Young” is just the latest in a string of cool music videos for the band. The song itself is also a jam.
Featuring atmospheric synthesizers, pulsating drums, and a dope bass line, “Take Me Avalon I’m Young” is a song about “a sense of wonder [becoming] more and more slippery as the years go by.” While this might sound like it would be a downer, Allbrook and co have made it sound fun. There’s subdued saxophone towards the end, some fantastic guitar work, and, as always, Allbrook’s illustrative voice painting the picture of ennui that the track is meant to convey.
Check out the music video below, and be sure to go check out 9 on whatever streaming service you use!